Assalamua Alaikom :D,
“All actions are judged by motives, and each person will be rewarded according to their intention. Thus, he whose migration was to God and His Messenger, his migration is to God and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)
Subhan’Allah. It’s a big deal. “All actions are judged by motives, and each person will be rewarded according to their intention”!!! Allah (swt) knows our deepest thoughts and secrets, so He knows our intentions. It’s what He looks at first and foremost. If you intend to do a good deed for the sake of showing off to others, Allah (swt) knows this, you can fool all the others with your “sincerity”, but you can’t fool Him. It’s silly and stupid to think you can.
There are the deeds we do that are not in total relation Allah (swt) (a lotta things are, though – that’s what’s interesting about a Muslim’s lifeJ), but we do ‘em because that’s life. Like, sleeping, eating, etc…. What I love about the concept of intention -or in this case I’ll be talking about the Greater Intention- is that everyday activities can be turned into acts of worship all because you purified your intention and were sincere! Like, say, you’re cleaning the bathroom, and you think, “oh gosh, why am I doing this again?! It wasn’t even THAT dirty to begin with!” Hah…well, the Greater Intention would be: “I will do this, because my mom wants me to, and Allah (swt) says to obey my mother”. OR a direct approach would be: “I’ll do this because Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) loves purity; purity is a half of faith, after all!” I dunno, it makes things a lot easier for me, at least…Or like I think a lot about how marriage and kids can be a hindrance to your spiritual life. And your job can be a hindrance, too. But if you go into it all with the right mindset, intentions, etc., it’s all gooood. Alhamdulillah. Besides, marriage and kids are a blessing from Allah (swt), one we cannot deny!
Our main aim should be to please Allah (swt), not other people. Allah (swt) is our Creator; He has more of a right over us than anyone else in the world. Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) doesn’t need us, but we are in need of Him, so if we don’t have the sincere intention of doing it for God’s sake, we’re only depriving ourselves from His Mercy, Love, and Acceptance. Without it were just drones in the world! Life is only good and meaningful when God is in the center of it. When we’re conscious of God, He’s conscious of us, and I’m comfortable knowing that my Lord, The Guiding Friend, is watching over me!! Nah mean?! Alhamdulillah. Subhan’Allah.
God’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) replied:
“If he is working to support his small children, then it is for the sake of God. If he is working to support his elderly parents, then it is for the sake of God. If he is working to occupy himself and keep his desires in check, then it is for the sake of God. If, on the other hand, he is doing so to show off and earn fame, then he is working for the sake of Satan.” (al-Mundhiri, as-Suyuti)
“A person learned [religious] knowledge and taught it [to others], as well as reciting the Quran. He will be brought [to the presence of God], and God will mention to him all the favors he granted him, and he recognized them. God will ask him, ‘What did you do with them?’
He will answer, ‘I learned [religious] knowledge and taught it [to others], and I recited the Quran purely for Your sake.’
God will say, ‘You have lied! Rather you learned [religious] knowledge to be called a scholar, and you recited the Quran to be called a recitor, and it was said of you!’ Then it was commanded [to punish] him. So he was dragged on his face and he was thrown into the Fire.” (an-Nasa’i)
I think your intentions are the hardest thing to control. Because first you have to have a control over your “lower self” and the whispers from Shaytaan. And you need a whole lotta taqwa! That’s a struggle, duuude! Shaytaan is always looking for me in my vulnerable state and tryna convince me that my intentions aren’t pure and sincere. I need to build a strong barrier between him and I!
Then there are the sins we commit…how do we purify our intentions for those? Haha :|…..”I’m going to sin so I can repent to Allah (swt) afterwards, because Allah (swt) loves those who repent”??? I’m not making a mockery out of anything, Na’udhu billah…I’m just tryna make sense out of why we sin so much! What’s our intention?! (thought of another one: “Lemme do this sin one last time – to get it outta my system- then I’ll never do it again!”) Of course, that’s not what it is. We’re human, the lowest of the low because of our base desires and whims and we fall for temptations all the time and are blinded by passion. That’s what makes us jahil. We’re not ignorant, because we know right from wrong, but we’re jahil (ignorant) in the sense that we don’t put our knowledge to action. (The Arabic word “jahl” has two connotations; 1. Lack of beneficial knowledge, and 2. Lack of action in accordance with that knowledge. Both are equally jahl linguistically and as well by Shari’ah)…And in return, we DISOBEY Allah (swt)! That may not be our intention, but it is what we’re doing!
So, what I’m tryna to say is that the strongest, wisest person fulfills all his obligations to the best of his ability and never loses the sight of his Lord, and the Hereafter, and fulfills all his obligations to the best of his ability, where he will be eternally…Let’s aim for Jannah, people! Insha’Allah…:D.
And oh yeah, hold onto Allah's Word, The Qur'an.Reminder for myself first, others second.
K, good day, salaam :).
5 comments:
i heard of this hadith where if u feel you will sin, and go to sleep instead, then that sleep is rewardful
i jus cant find the source though :-(
Really?! Later on - on the night I wrote this- I was going to turn on the radio but decided to go to sleep instead. I know that, Insha'Allah, that was recorded as a good deed, but I didn't know my sleep would also be rewardful! I'm gonna have to check that out :).
"the hardest thing for a believer to perfect is his/her intentions..."
Subhanallah.. I was at a Dars and the shaykh said something which really blew my mind. We work toward being two people or rather two personalities. When in reality we should be ONE person. By this I mean... people are one way in private and another way in the presence of others. What we fail to understand is that people see what we do in front of them, but what we do in private will be revealed to everyone, even people we don't know in the presence of Allah (swt). It's all about Taqwa.
AND... it reminds me of the Native Deen song lol... "are my intentions right.. Am I doing it for Allah... Looking deep, deep down inside... Do i have the right niyyah?"
Yuuuup! That's what I was sorta tryna say :S. haha...And oh yeah, I remember that song!
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